Culture and politics at the intersection of Brooklyn, Brussels and Belgravia

Main menu

Post navigation

The NRA adds Christians to its list of murder victims

A gunman shot and killed more than two dozen people and injured many others Sunday inside a small community church here in South Texas, and he was found dead several miles away from the scene after fleeing, authorities said.

The mass shooting happened during morning services at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town in the countryside more than 30 miles southeast of San Antonio, and it claimed the lives of people ranging in age from 5 to 72, authorities said.

Witnesses described the shooter as a man in his 20s wearing all black clothing and a tactical vest.

Using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we found that from 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil. (2013 is the most recent year CDC data for deaths by firearms is available.) This data covered all manners of death, including homicide, accident and suicide.

According to the U.S. State Department, the number of U.S. citizens killed overseas as a result of incidents of terrorism from 2001 to 2013 was 350.

In addition, we compiled all terrorism incidents inside the U.S. and found that between 2001 and 2013, there were 3,030 people killed in domestic acts of terrorism.* This brings the total to 3,380.

Those are numbers from 2013. We are in 2017 and we’ve lost count of the number of Americans killed by guns since then. But let’s be clear on this. The NRA has murdered more than 100 times as many Americans as al-Qaeda and ISIS and MS-13 and every other boogeyman the Republicans have thrown at the pump truppets and their enablers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The NRA is a terrorist organization, and a pretty damn efficient one at that. Because it’s fluffers in the GOP aren’t going to do anything to put an end to its reign of carnage. All they’re going to do is this:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that his office stands ready to assist local law enforcement as needed: “The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with the people of Sutherland Springs as tragic reports come out of First Baptist Church.”

More thoughts and prayers while the deadly reign of the NRA continues. That’s all Republicans ever offer.